The Journey To Jack
by Caz251
Summary: Summary: Jack and Ianto go to Iceland to check out the chance of alien intervention with the volcano Eyjafjallajökull, and Gwen can't help but follow them. Slash. Gwenbashing. Character death.


**Title:** The Journey To Jack

**Author: **Caz251

**Fandom: **Torchwood

**Characters/Pairing:** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Magmites

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **Jack and Ianto go to Iceland to check out the chance of alien intervention with the volcano Eyjafjallajökull, and Gwen can't help but follow them. 

**Spoilers:** General spoilers for Torchwood.

**Warnings:** Gwenbashing, character death

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood, or anything associated with it.

**AN:** This is written for the Cooper vs. Volcano challenge at **antigwenallies**

Gwen was annoyed, Jack had completely ruined her plans. When she had first heard of the possibility of non-terran interference with a volcano in Iceland she wasn't overly excited, until Jack said that two of them would go and check it out. While Iceland wasn't the most romantic of locations it was remote. She had watched over Ianto's shoulder as he made the arrangements. He booked two first class plane tickets and a one bed roomed suite at a hotel. She kept the smile off her face as she squealed internally, she'd never travelled first class before, not even on her honeymoon. More importantly though she would be sharing a room with Jack, he was obviously ready to make a move on her.

She had then went to her desk to do some work, the arrangements made so far had been perfect, she knew that everything else would be perfect for her as well, there was no need to watch Ianto make them when she could be doing more important things like playing solitaire. She 'worked' away at her computer for a little longer before jack came back into the main hub, she looked up at him a smile plastered across her face at the thought of what they would be doing by that time the next day.

"Go home Gwen, big day tomorrow." Jack spoke, telling her everything that she had thought was true with those few words. "We're leaving here about 5am, so we should get some sleep."

Gwen just smiled and nodded before grabbing her bag and making her way to the door and then home to pack. When she had got home, Rhys was already there making dinner, her smile faded a bit, but she perked up before he could see that. Walking into the kitchen she gave him a kiss on the cheek, telling him that dinner smelt lovely and that she had some news for him before going into the bedroom. Opening the wardrobe she had pulled out her travel case, a lurid pink thing covered with hearts, and put it on the bed. She started by packing some of her best lingerie and nightwear before packing some skinny jeans and some close fitting tops. A pair of killer heels went into the suitcase as well, she was sure that Jack would love to see her in just them. She grabbed a few other essentials to pack, then sat on the case to close it, she couldn't ask Rhys, she didn't want him to know what clothing she was taking on a business trip.

Gwen pulled her case into the hall before taking the seat opposite Rhys and started to eat. The meal was lovely and it made her mind up for her, she had been unsure before, but now she knew for certain she was keeping Rhys. Gwen had always wanted someone who would take care of her and Rhys was that someone. Jack on the other hand, well he would provide the passion that she had longed for, and Rhys never had to know. Having finally made a decision she settled on Plan B 'Tell Rhys of the business trip' instead of Plan A 'Break Rhys' Heart'. She had explained to Rhys that she would be away for a few days and he seemed to take it in his stride. If he didn't work he could be classed as the perfect house husband. They had then retreated to their bedroom where Rhys had shown her how much he loved her. He had made her feel cherished, but the Earth hadn't moved like she knew it would for her and Jack.

She had woken early that morning to make sure that she looked perfect. Rhys had then carried her case and driven her to the plass. Taking the lift down to the hub she expected to see Jack and Ianto, the latter there to drive them to the airport. Instead she had found that the hub was empty except for its permanent residents Janet and Myfanwy. She then realised that they were more than likely running late, as Jack would have taken the time to dump Ianto gently so that there would be no problems in the workplace. After all he would never continue to shag Ianto while he was with her, he would have no need to as she would satisfy him.

She realised that she was wrong when she noticed a piece of paper attached to her monitor by one of her post its. Looking at it she noticed that it was Jack's writing, she wondered why he had written her a note when they were going away together, she took it from the monitor and sniffed it, inhaling Jack's scent before reading it.

Gwen,

I know that you are most likely annoyed that we didn't wait until you arrived to leave, but we wanted to get to the airport early. Ianto is writing a list of instructions for you and the details of how to care for Myfanwy and Janet while we are away, they should be taped to the rift manipulator.

We don't know how long we will be away, it depends on what it actually is that is happening in Iceland, but we'll call every day to check up on you. If you need an extra pair of hands you can bring in both Rhys and PC Andy, who has been informed of what we do and is considering joining our team. If it is really necessary, and I mean the apocalypse necessary then contact UNIT for help. Under no circumstances however are they to be allowed into the hub, they do what you need them to and the leave, are we clear.

We will see you when we return,

Captain Jack Harkness

Gwen let out a scream of frustration when she read the note, they had gone and left her in Cardiff. It should have been her who had went with Jack she had more experience than the teaboy had, imagine Jack leaving her behind. She was sure that Ianto must have whined and coerced Jack into taking him along, after all Jack wouldn't have taken him over her any other way. She couldn't believe that they expected her, her Gwen Cooper, to watch the hub while they went to look at a volcano, she detested the things they kept in the hub, why she had to look after them was a mystery to her. She stomped over to the rift manipulator to see what these instructions were that they had left for her.

Do not enter the archives, use the electronic ones.

No tech leaves the archives.

No unauthorised tech off base.

Do not enter Jack's office or his quarters.

DO NOT TOUCH THE COFFEE MACHINE

Keep the SUV fully stocked and clean – remove any blood or alien stains immediately.

Feed Janet and Myfanwy three times a day – 5am, 1pm and 9pm – details on how to do so can be found in the book Caring For Weevils and Pterodactyls by I. Jones and O. Harper which is on the mainframe desktop.

Gwen glared at the list written in Ianto's neat handwriting, it was her that should be giving him orders, not the other way around, she was second in command of Torchwood not him. It was then that she decided to use her authority as second in command to sort everything so that she could go to Jack in Iceland as he was sure to need her. She quickly placed a call to the airport getting herself a ticket on the next flight to Iceland before calling Martha. She knew she had to be careful about how she approached the situation because Martha was close to Jack.

She explained to her that they had something to deal with, she didn't go into details, she was sure that Jack wouldn't want UNIT to know that he was creating fake alien encounters to spend time with her, that must be why he had chosen Iceland after all. She had worked it out that he wanted to spend the time with her and had chosen such a remote location so that no-one like Rhys would find out, he was so considerate of her relationship with her husband. Ianto had obviously done something to make him take him instead, but she was sure that Jack would be happy to see her when she surprised them in Iceland. She then asked Martha if she would come to Cardiff with a small team and man the rift for them, explaining that Jack had left it to her to organise as he didn't want to have to deal with UNIT and all the red tape.

Her trip to Iceland was hellish, no-one on the plane listened to her orders, and the only free seat on the plane had been in economy and for some reason no-one in first class would swap with her. Arriving in Iceland was almost a blessing, despite the cold weather when she arrived, hopefully it would warm up in the next day or so. She made her way to the hotel that Jack and Ianto were staying in, hoping to get a room there, and catch the men before they went to the volcano. Unfortunately for her they had already left, she did manage to find somewhere to stay in the hotel, but it wasn't the room she was hoping for. As it was Iceland the people in the hotel hadn't really heard of Torchwood, so her authority as the second in command of Torchwood was useless, and the man at the desk wouldn't give her Jack's room key.

Gwen stormed off to her room, Room 10, in a huff at the fact that nothing was going her way, she should be sharing a room by Jack and well on her way to being the mother of his children by now. She threw herself backwards onto her bed, deciding to go to sleep to refresh herself so that she could find her love in the morning. It was the worst nights sleep she had ever had, and she regularly shared a bed with her husband. There was a couple in the next room and they were loud, she couldn't hear what it was they said to each other, the words mostly drowned out by moaning. In a way she wished she had the couple's stamina, or at least their sex life as it had sounded amazing, but she knew that she had to wait for the right partner and Jack would be the one. She finally fell asleep when they finished, or at least quietened down, but was awoken just over five hours later by her phone ringing, cursing she managed to get to her phone, blinking blearily at the caller display.

Noting that it was Jack calling her she made sure to sound as upbeat, awake and perky as she could, he loved her that way after all, "Hi Jack! How's Iceland?"

They spoke for a few minutes, him asking how everything was going and whether there had been anything big to deal with, and for once she replied truthfully, nothing major had happened and she hadn't even broken a sweat dealing with it, after all Martha had been easy to convince. She then steered the conversation to find out what he and Ianto were up to. He told her that they had gone to the volcano the previous evening but it had been too dark to see anything so they were just heading out now. She quickly hung up after that, rushing to shower and dress so that she could go and surprise him, she knew he would be exited to see her after having to leave her behind in Cardiff to deal with Torchwood.

Exiting the shower she ordered room service, and dressed while she waited for it to arrive. After eating her breakfast she left her room wearing a pair of ankle boots, a short denim skirt, a lace camisole top and she had topped the look off with her leather jacket. She had gone to the front desk to inquire about a way to get to the volcano, she didn't know where it was after all, only to be told that she would have to walk. The receptionist gave her a map, and explained when she whined that someone should drive her there that the Spirits of the Volcano were angry about something and that no-one local would be going anywhere near the volcano until the spirits calmed down again. Gwen had given a huge sigh before walking out into the cold, it still hadn't warmed up and she was regretting her choice of outfit, but knew that the walk would warm her up. While she was annoyed that no-one would take her she knew that it could work to her benefit, only her, Jack and Ianto would be up the volcano, if Ianto were to accidently slip there would be no witnesses.

Nearly an hour and a half later she reached they base of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull, she was tired and freezing but she knew that she had to carry on, her Jack was waiting for her. She knew that he and Ianto had had an hour head start so they should be at the top of the volcano by now. She wondered what they had found, but she knew that whatever it was they would need her to understand it and explain it to them so she carried on with a fierce determination. The trip up the volcano was exhausting, but in the long run it was for the best, one trip to the top of the volcano would be enough to show Jack that she loved him. After all she braved a dangerous death to reach him at the top, she weighed so little that the wind could have easily blown her off the side of the volcano and to her death.

Reaching the top of Eyjafjallajökull she looked around, hoping to catch sight of Jack and she was mightily unimpressed when she did. He was further down the volcano in the actual crater sat on a ledge of sorts with Ianto, surrounded by what looked like creatures of fire. They looked like they were closing in on them and she was unsure about what to do, on the one hand she could allow them to kill both Jack and Ianto, Jack would come back to life and be all hers or she could rescue them. She quickly decided on the latter, after all if Ianto died who would make her coffee and clean up after her at work. Jack would also think her heroic for coming into a volcano to rescue him, especially when he can't die anyway.

The trip down to the ledge that her love was trapped on was rather precarious and she decided to take her time for her own safety, the fire creatures didn't seem to be attacking just yet, so she may as well. She could go a bit slower and then breeze in when the creatures became hostile, not even breaking into a sweat as she did so. Jack would be eternally grateful and would no doubt accompany her back to her room, where she would take great pleasure in both Jack and drowning out the couple in room number 9. A gleeful smile appeared on her face at the very thought, she was going to enjoy the rest of this trip.

The closer she got to Jack and Ianto the happier she got at the idea of what was in store for her in the near future. They were now only a few feet below her and she was sure that it would only take her another ten minutes to reach them. It was then that she realised that she had no real plan, normally she would just wing it and come out triumphant, but these creatures were made of fire and the heat the closer she got to them became even more stifling. She was now feeling a lot better about her outfit choice, she had known that it would be hot enough to wear her chosen clothing at some point.

She wondered if bullets would work on the creatures, she may as well use her gun after all the trouble she had gone to to get it into the country. She had had to use both the Torchwood card and the use of heavy persuasion on the security guards to be allowed to travel with her weapon. Yes, she would use her gun, bullets would work and if they didn't she would just order the creatures to leave, she was after all Gwen Cooper, they would have to listen to her and do as she commanded. Now that she had a plan she felt much better about the situation, glad that she wasn't going into the situation with a faulty plan, it wasn't flawed as she had come up with it.

She reached the ledge that Jack and Ianto were standing on, noting that the creatures instantly became hostile at the sight of her, ranting in what appeared to be Latin, or at least she thought it was Latin, languages had never been her strong point. She glared at them, raising her gun, pointing it at the creature that appeared to be in the lead, if she took out the leader, their strongest the rest would run back to where they came from. She fired a shot, ignoring Jack's orders for her to put down her weapon, he would see that she was in the right later and apologise to her she was almost positive.

The bullet appeared to melt as it came in range of the creature and all of a sudden a rasping voice filled the crater, "The Destroyer hath cometh."

Gwen had no idea what the voice meant, but she hoped that it wasn't someone that would have more power than her she had to protect herself and Jack and she couldn't do that if the Destroyer overpowered her.

The voice rang out again, "Destroy the Destroyer, secure the Magmite Empire."

Gwen looked to her left at Jack who was conversing rapidly with both Ianto and the leader of the creatures, apparently known as the Magmites. She moved towards him to join their conversation and offer her wisdom as to how to destroy the Destroyer when the Magmite hissed at her, spitting flames of molten lava towards her. She screamed and jumped backwards, looking pleadingly at Jack to get him to deal with the creature that dare attack her, but he just stood there nodding his head and agreeing with it.

A minute later the Magmite backed away and Jack beconned her over to him, she reached him as quickly as possible gluing herself to his side as she listened to him talk. "The Magmites have a plan to destroy the Destroyer, their seers have seen this occur and that's why they have been so restless recently and managed to attract the attention of Torchwood." Jack began, Gwen hanging on his every word. "The only way to kill the Destroyer that is an option for them is for them to make the volcano erupt, and it must be done soon. We'll be safe though, they've granted us safe passage through a secure tunnel in the volcanic rock, how it was created I have no idea, but I am grateful for it. We need to leave now though." He finished, looking at her with an odd expression on his face, Gwen was sure that it was worry for her.

She quickly made to reassure him, "I'm fine Jack, a little scared of the eruption, but everything will go back to normal once the Destroyer is gone, wont it?"

Jack nodded, at her then at Ianto, who started to make his way in the direction that the Magmite had indicated. He waited almost a minute before breaking into a full sprint, she knew that the coward was scared but that was ridiculous. She smiled at Jack and asked if the should go now too, he just gave her an odd look before stepping back away from her, heading in the same direction that Ianto had. She made to follow him only to find herself surrounded by Magmites. She yelled to Jack to get him to make them leave her alone, only to find that he too had ran off. A minute later and she was still stuck in the centre of a ring of Magmites when the one she had tried to shoot returned. He nodded to the others, some sort of sign for them to do something, hopefully for them to release her. She thought it was true when all but one of them disappeared from where they had been standing, only for her hopes to fade as the magma began to rise. The last thing she saw was the grinning face of the Magmite before the explosion that rocked the crater robbing her of life.

Once out of the volcano Jack and Ianto made their way back to their hotel room, they had no idea why Gwen had come to Iceland, but knew that as she had been there that they needed to get back to the rift. It would be impossible for them to get a flight from Iceland due to the volcanic eruption, but luckily for them Jack had managed to get his vortex manipulator working. They packed their belongings and made their way downstairs to the desk to check out of room number 9 and find out which room had been Gwen's to collect her belongings in case she had brought any of their tech with her.

The days passed quickly once they got back to Cardiff, after Jack had had a fit and thrown out the UNIT team minus Martha, who he convinced to work for him at Torchwood. Eyjafjallajökull continued to be a problem for at least a month, something that had concerned Jack greatly as it was only supposed to have been a mini eruption that should have cleared up within a week or two. He supposed though that he couldn't blame either the volcano or the Magmites, after all he was pretty sure that if he had swallowed Gwen he too would have had indigestion.


End file.
